For some reason in the entire history of the television series the Doctor has never once visited Ireland despite going to Scotland all the time and also paying visits to France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, and the U.S. For some reason the country right next door with the beautiful filming locations has never drawn a Who production. Well, maybe this is the beginning of an era of positive change.
As it happens the only Doctor Who audio play I managed to listen to this past week, Scherzo from 2003, is about marriage and stars Paul McGann, who I think is of Irish decent (he was born in Liverpool), as the Eighth Doctor and India Fisher as companion Charley Pollard--and no-one else. The story is about marriage in a rather grisly, allegorical way as the Doctor and Charley find themselves stripped of most of their senses--left only the ability to speak and hear--and find their bodies are gradually merging over a period of perhaps months. Every now and then they're permitted the return of their senses in order to feed on some mysterious, rapidly evolving organic mass.
This is the fourth audio play I've heard written by Robert Shearman who has impressed me a great deal with his previous three, The Holy Terror, The Chimes of Midnight, and Jubilee. Scherzo is quite explicit in its metaphorical sex, if that makes sense, the Doctor and Charley having much dialogue about how they're becoming one as they find their hands and then their faces are growing into each other accompanied by moist meaty sound effects. Even more frightening and weird is what amounts to their offspring which seems to indicate Eraserhead levels of anxiety regarding procreation. But ultimately, the story is sweet and the biological stuff seems a stand in for the worries of two people whose lives are merging. It's certainly an interesting predecessor to the relaunched television series' focus on romance.
I also rewatched the Seventh Doctor serial The Silver Nemesis starring Sylvester McCoy who partly grew up in Ireland. This serial seems to have gotten a bad reputation but I still rather like it. The Doctor and Ace are delightful together as always, even slightly over the top moments like where Ace asks the Doctor if he's lost his marbles and he immediately produces a handful of marbles from his pocket. This is largely sold by Sophie Aldred delivering the setup with an impression of complete natural candour. The Seventh Doctor and Ace have a chemistry that continues to surprise me in its depth in small moments like that. Sometimes she's the Abbott to his Costello, and then the Doctor has a dark look and it seems he's the Jacob Marley to her Scrooge. It all fuses together in something really vital, a clever comedy routine that's a precarious lid on something really volatile.
DOCTOR WHO - Silver Nemesis - (PART ONE) by TimeLordWannabe69
Twitter Sonnet #752
Termite elf lord biscuits smell of diamond.
Walking almond milkmen trampled the bike.
Flying guppies have been lately "salmoned".
Pancake almanacs give breakfast the pike.
Face paint fires find petrol precious now.
Guitar symbols exercise thin bellies.
Skulls've uttered peace talks across the bow.
Toothless basements collect preserved jellies.
Burning erasers condemn graphite sin.
Tiny scimitars emulate earnings.
Whirlpool earthlings wear no great lapel pin.
Dry cleaners glean lint gutter ball winnings.
Moustache moose cake mistrusts chocolate prices.
Drummers double no dubious vices.
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